Genaro Alas, architect of essentials and abstraction
28/03/2021.
[In Memoriam]
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
With the death of the architect Genaro Alas (1926-2021) a great loss is suffered in modern Madrid architecture. Alas was an architect closely related to some of the most iconic buildings in Madrid. He died on February 10 in Cáceres due to complications after contracting Covid-19.
His work developed during the second half of the 20th century. From years with scarce economic and technical resources in architecture solved with ingenuity until the end of the century with more ambitious and equally significant projects.
Architect by the ETSA of Madrid in 1954, a year later he founded, together with Pedro Casariego, the Alas y Casariego studio. His works, marked by geometric rigor, are defined by a great constructive rationalism.
His architecture and his buildings are an extraordinary research process on modulation systems, as a design principle and support for the development of construction processes and, to a large extent, as a support for the abstract image of his architecture.
His work developed during the second half of the 20th century. From years with scarce economic and technical resources in architecture solved with ingenuity until the end of the century with more ambitious and equally significant projects.
Architect by the ETSA of Madrid in 1954, a year later he founded, together with Pedro Casariego, the Alas y Casariego studio. His works, marked by geometric rigor, are defined by a great constructive rationalism.
His architecture and his buildings are an extraordinary research process on modulation systems, as a design principle and support for the development of construction processes and, to a large extent, as a support for the abstract image of his architecture.
Genaro Alas (right) and Pedro Casariego in their studio. Photograph by D.R.
Monky Coffee Factory (1960) by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Photograph by Uria foto, courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Monky Coffee Factory (1960) by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Photograph by Uria foto, courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Monky Coffee Factory (1960) by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Photograph by Uria foto, courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Assicurazioni Generali office building (1958) by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Photograph by L. Jiménez, courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Assicurazioni Generali office building (1958) by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Photograph by L. Jiménez, courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Assicurazioni Generali office building (1958) by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Photograph by L. Jiménez, courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Assicurazioni Generali office building (1958) by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Image courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Centro 23 building (1965) by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Photograph by Carlos Casariego, courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Centro 23 building (1965) by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Photograph by Carlos Casariego, courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Centro 23 building (1965) by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Photograph by Portillo, courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Trieste building (1969) by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Photograph by Carlos Casariego, courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Trieste building (1969) by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Photograph by Carlos Casariego, courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Trieste building (1969) by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Photograph by Requena, courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Windsor building (1974) by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Photograph by Carlos Casariego, courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Windsor building (1974) by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Photograph by Carlos Casariego, courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Windsor building (1974) by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Photograph by Carlos Casariego, courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Torre Picasso (1988) directed by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Photograph by Carlos Delgado, courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Torre Picasso (1988) directed by Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Image courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Alas Casariego Studio. Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego in Madrid, in 1980. Image courtesy of Juan Casariego.
Genaro Alas was born in Madrid on April 29, 1926 and studied Architecture at ETSAM, where he met his fellow student and work partner, Pedro Casariego. At the end of his degree he moved to Cáceres, where he began to work as an architect for the National Institute of Colonization. From the beginning, Genaro Alas shows a special interest in artisan construction, which will be reflected in his architecture characterized by a modern formal language. Later, he will found the Alas y Casariego studio, and will be part of a research committee on prefabricated buildings with which he will have the opportunity to travel around Europe.
One of his first jobs, together with Casariego, was the construction of the Café Monky factory (1962-1964), for the company Cogesol S.A. Great building that served both to show the coffee treatment process and to enhance the brand image. A project that is masterfully inspired by and takes references from Walter Gropious's Fagus Factory. The project focuses its attention on the manufacturing tower and the staircase that accompanies it, a set of transparencies that contrasts with the closed elements with exposed brick walls. A successful set of volumes that accentuate the diaphanous and spectacular nature of the whole.
Much of Genaro Alas's work was carried out in Madrid, such as the Generali building (1958-1962), the Centro building (1965-1967), the Trieste I and II buildings (1969-1972 and 1971-1974, respectively). or the Windsor tower (1974-1979). With the headquarters of Assicurazioni Generali, an interesting study of modules based on the minimum unit of work was maked, the juxtaposition of which allowed the generation of a flexible plant. The final eleven-storey project fits into the plot of a building with two double-bay bodies that eludes symmetrical compositions, articulated by the communication core and developing a series of tiled patios. The facade will present an interesting and clean geometric game made with horizontal bands of limestone, supported by metal profiles that alternate with continuous bands of windows.
With the Centro building, a proposal for a mixed concrete structure and facade will be made that could be framed within Madrid's brutalist architecture, located on Orense Street and with a set-back volume already defined, it will continue to experiment with structural and functional modulation systems . The ten-storey building is marked in plan by a central nucleus with an octagonal patio around which the stairs will be developed.
Other notable examples were the Assicurazioni Generali commissions for the office buildings of the Trieste project (I and II), located in the AZCA block. The buildings are projected again by developing an intense study of modules, in a grid of seven meters on each side, with a reinforced concrete structure, whose frame design allows the floor slabs to be adjusted to different heights according to the program. The building, in many respects, can be considered as a prelude to what will become the Windsor Tower.
The Windsor Tower is, perhaps, his building best known for the stories that emerged as a result of its fire in 2005. However, it deserves special significance for its interesting structural development. The complex is made up of three parts with a tower divided into two superimposed volumes, whose heights range from ten to one hundred meters with different uses: commercial, shows and offices. The tower, with a height of ninety-eight meters and twenty-eight floors, was the part developed by the Alas y Casariego studio. The continuity of the volume in height was broken by an intermediate thermal plant formed by large perimeter beams of 3.40 meters in depth, which supported the facade loads, and forged floors aided by the central core. The resulting volume was one of refined abstraction and formal continuity.
In addition to working in the Alas y Casariego studio, (largely reflected in an interesting monograph of the MOPTMA1) Genaro Alas combined his activity by teaching construction classes at ETSAM, where he received his doctorate in 1966, and at the University of Santa María de la Rábida, at the beginning of the 90s.
Genaro Alas generated an architecture with clean lines and a great interest in its refined formal abstraction. A work developed largely with his partner Pedro Casariego with whom he formed a tandem that characterized part of Madrid's modern architecture. Together they worked on more than 300 projects until Pedro Casariego's death in 2002. Alas maintained the activity of the study with Juan Casariego, son of his partner, until 2007.
One of his first jobs, together with Casariego, was the construction of the Café Monky factory (1962-1964), for the company Cogesol S.A. Great building that served both to show the coffee treatment process and to enhance the brand image. A project that is masterfully inspired by and takes references from Walter Gropious's Fagus Factory. The project focuses its attention on the manufacturing tower and the staircase that accompanies it, a set of transparencies that contrasts with the closed elements with exposed brick walls. A successful set of volumes that accentuate the diaphanous and spectacular nature of the whole.
Much of Genaro Alas's work was carried out in Madrid, such as the Generali building (1958-1962), the Centro building (1965-1967), the Trieste I and II buildings (1969-1972 and 1971-1974, respectively). or the Windsor tower (1974-1979). With the headquarters of Assicurazioni Generali, an interesting study of modules based on the minimum unit of work was maked, the juxtaposition of which allowed the generation of a flexible plant. The final eleven-storey project fits into the plot of a building with two double-bay bodies that eludes symmetrical compositions, articulated by the communication core and developing a series of tiled patios. The facade will present an interesting and clean geometric game made with horizontal bands of limestone, supported by metal profiles that alternate with continuous bands of windows.
With the Centro building, a proposal for a mixed concrete structure and facade will be made that could be framed within Madrid's brutalist architecture, located on Orense Street and with a set-back volume already defined, it will continue to experiment with structural and functional modulation systems . The ten-storey building is marked in plan by a central nucleus with an octagonal patio around which the stairs will be developed.
Other notable examples were the Assicurazioni Generali commissions for the office buildings of the Trieste project (I and II), located in the AZCA block. The buildings are projected again by developing an intense study of modules, in a grid of seven meters on each side, with a reinforced concrete structure, whose frame design allows the floor slabs to be adjusted to different heights according to the program. The building, in many respects, can be considered as a prelude to what will become the Windsor Tower.
The Windsor Tower is, perhaps, his building best known for the stories that emerged as a result of its fire in 2005. However, it deserves special significance for its interesting structural development. The complex is made up of three parts with a tower divided into two superimposed volumes, whose heights range from ten to one hundred meters with different uses: commercial, shows and offices. The tower, with a height of ninety-eight meters and twenty-eight floors, was the part developed by the Alas y Casariego studio. The continuity of the volume in height was broken by an intermediate thermal plant formed by large perimeter beams of 3.40 meters in depth, which supported the facade loads, and forged floors aided by the central core. The resulting volume was one of refined abstraction and formal continuity.
In addition to working in the Alas y Casariego studio, (largely reflected in an interesting monograph of the MOPTMA1) Genaro Alas combined his activity by teaching construction classes at ETSAM, where he received his doctorate in 1966, and at the University of Santa María de la Rábida, at the beginning of the 90s.
Genaro Alas generated an architecture with clean lines and a great interest in its refined formal abstraction. A work developed largely with his partner Pedro Casariego with whom he formed a tandem that characterized part of Madrid's modern architecture. Together they worked on more than 300 projects until Pedro Casariego's death in 2002. Alas maintained the activity of the study with Juan Casariego, son of his partner, until 2007.
1. Alas Casariego Arquitectos, 1955-1955. Serie monografías. Madrid: Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Transportes y Medio Ambiente, Dirección General para la Vivienda, el Urbanismo y la Arquitectura, 1995.
More information
Genaro Alas, Pedro Casariego Estudio Alas y Casariego
Studio founded in 1955 by the architects Genaro Alas and Pedro Casariego. Authors of major projects in the city of Madrid, such as the Monky factory (1964), the Generali building (1962), the Centro Building (1967) and the Windsor Tower (1979).
Genaro Alas Rodríguez, architect and co-founder of the Alas Casariego studio in 1955. Born in Madrid in 1926, he studied architecture at the Madrid School of Architecture, graduating in 1954 and obtaining his Doctorate in Architecture in 1966.
In his professional life, he worked as an architect for the National Institute of Colonisation in the Cáceres Delegation during 1954-1955. In this work, in addition to numerous restoration projects, he designed and directed the "Vegaviana" settlement, in collaboration with the architect J. L. Fernández del Amo, and the "Rincón del Obispo" settlement. He also directed the "La Moheda" and "Rincón de Ballesteros" settlements. In addition, during 1956-1957, he worked as a technical advisor architect for the National Housing Institute in the Cáceres Delegation, and as an architect representing the General Directorate of Architecture in the Provincial Housing Commission of Cáceres and Badajoz. In 1960, he was a member of the Spanish team selected by the National Productivity Commission to study Prefabrication in construction in Europe. Likewise, in 1967, he was a member of the team selected as head of the team for the drafting of Judicial Architecture projects in Madrid Capital for the Ministry of Justice.
During the period 1962-1971, he was an assistant lecturer in the subject "Construction IV-Prefabrication" at his alma mater, the ETSA in Madrid. In 1967, he was assistant lecturer at the seminar "Flexible administrative buildings" of the National Service of Industrial Productivity. In 1990, he was a lecturer at the "New Technologies and Architecture: Intelligent Environments" course at the Universidad Hispanoamericana de Santa María de la Rábida.
Pedro Casariego H-Vaquero, architect and co-founder of the Alas Casariego studio in 1955. Born in Oviedo in 1927, he studied architecture at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura in Madrid, graduating in 1953 and obtaining his Doctorate in Architecture in 1966. During his student years, he worked as an assistant in the Galmes-Lantero studio, and won prizes for various painting competitions at the Colegio Mayor Ximénez de Cisneros in Madrid.
In his professional life, he was a member of the Governing Board of the COAM, in 1959 as a member, and in 1965 he was chairman of the COAM's Culture Committee as well as a member of the board. He was also a member of the Editorial Committee of the Architecture magazine of the Colegio de Arquitectos de Madrid. He was part of the team selected by the National Productivity Commission to study Prefabrication in European Construction in 1960. Commissioned by the Madrid Housing Institute, he coordinated the integral rehabilitation of the Tetuán neighbourhood in Madrid, in the period 1984-1987, in collaboration with Carlos Ferrán. Likewise, in 1985, he was part of the team selected as head of the team for the drafting of Judicial Architecture projects in Madrid for the Ministry of Justice.
He worked as a lecturer in charge of Projects II at the ETSAM, where he later became interim professor of the same subject, during the period 1980-1987. He was a member of the seminar on flexible offices of the National Service of Industrial Productivity. He gave lectures on the "Encounters for the rehabilitation of Urban Centres and Rural Areas", and participated in the "International Conference on Hospital Planning", in his home town, Oviedo. In 1992, he directed the UIMP Summer Course "Encounters with Architecture".
He was also curator of the exhibition "Proyectos de la Dirección General de Arquitectura y Edificación" in 1986, and director of the II Biennial of Architecture, promoted by the CSCAE, the MOPT and the UIMP in 1992.
Genaro Alas Rodríguez, architect and co-founder of the Alas Casariego studio in 1955. Born in Madrid in 1926, he studied architecture at the Madrid School of Architecture, graduating in 1954 and obtaining his Doctorate in Architecture in 1966.
In his professional life, he worked as an architect for the National Institute of Colonisation in the Cáceres Delegation during 1954-1955. In this work, in addition to numerous restoration projects, he designed and directed the "Vegaviana" settlement, in collaboration with the architect J. L. Fernández del Amo, and the "Rincón del Obispo" settlement. He also directed the "La Moheda" and "Rincón de Ballesteros" settlements. In addition, during 1956-1957, he worked as a technical advisor architect for the National Housing Institute in the Cáceres Delegation, and as an architect representing the General Directorate of Architecture in the Provincial Housing Commission of Cáceres and Badajoz. In 1960, he was a member of the Spanish team selected by the National Productivity Commission to study Prefabrication in construction in Europe. Likewise, in 1967, he was a member of the team selected as head of the team for the drafting of Judicial Architecture projects in Madrid Capital for the Ministry of Justice.
During the period 1962-1971, he was an assistant lecturer in the subject "Construction IV-Prefabrication" at his alma mater, the ETSA in Madrid. In 1967, he was assistant lecturer at the seminar "Flexible administrative buildings" of the National Service of Industrial Productivity. In 1990, he was a lecturer at the "New Technologies and Architecture: Intelligent Environments" course at the Universidad Hispanoamericana de Santa María de la Rábida.
Pedro Casariego H-Vaquero, architect and co-founder of the Alas Casariego studio in 1955. Born in Oviedo in 1927, he studied architecture at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura in Madrid, graduating in 1953 and obtaining his Doctorate in Architecture in 1966. During his student years, he worked as an assistant in the Galmes-Lantero studio, and won prizes for various painting competitions at the Colegio Mayor Ximénez de Cisneros in Madrid.
In his professional life, he was a member of the Governing Board of the COAM, in 1959 as a member, and in 1965 he was chairman of the COAM's Culture Committee as well as a member of the board. He was also a member of the Editorial Committee of the Architecture magazine of the Colegio de Arquitectos de Madrid. He was part of the team selected by the National Productivity Commission to study Prefabrication in European Construction in 1960. Commissioned by the Madrid Housing Institute, he coordinated the integral rehabilitation of the Tetuán neighbourhood in Madrid, in the period 1984-1987, in collaboration with Carlos Ferrán. Likewise, in 1985, he was part of the team selected as head of the team for the drafting of Judicial Architecture projects in Madrid for the Ministry of Justice.
He worked as a lecturer in charge of Projects II at the ETSAM, where he later became interim professor of the same subject, during the period 1980-1987. He was a member of the seminar on flexible offices of the National Service of Industrial Productivity. He gave lectures on the "Encounters for the rehabilitation of Urban Centres and Rural Areas", and participated in the "International Conference on Hospital Planning", in his home town, Oviedo. In 1992, he directed the UIMP Summer Course "Encounters with Architecture".
He was also curator of the exhibition "Proyectos de la Dirección General de Arquitectura y Edificación" in 1986, and director of the II Biennial of Architecture, promoted by the CSCAE, the MOPT and the UIMP in 1992.
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